Wikimedia Serbia/Bylaws/en

Pursuant to Articles 12 and 22 of the Law on Associations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 51/2009) and Articles 26 and 48 of its Bylaws, the Assembly of Wikimedia Serbia, at its session on 25 March 2012 in Belgrade, adopted these amended and restated

Bylaws

of Wikimedia Serbia

Preamble

The Association Wikimedia Serbia (hereinafter: the Association) is an independent legal person, internationally formally recognized as a national local chapter, included in the Wikimedia movement.

Statement of Purpose

Article 1

The Association is a non-governmental, non-party and non-profit association, established for an unlimited period of time in order to develop free knowledge issues. The purpose of the Association is to find the answer to the question how knowledge may become totally free being accessible to all human beings.

Goals

Article 2

The goal of the Association is to promote and support the creation, development and reproduction of free content free of charge explicitly, and the idea of equal access to knowledge and education. In terms of understanding, the Association deals with free content as a creation licensed to allow free use to all users.

In the process of creation, development and reproduction of free content, the software system “wiki” free of charge runs dominantly. The most prominent example of this principle is “Wikipedia”, the encyclopedia co-founded by Jimmy D. Wales and operated by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Article 3

With the aim to achieve its goals, the Association shall particularly:

operate the system for the creation, development and reproduction of free content, and manage its resources for this purpose being focusing on several international Wikimedia's projects;
reproduce and support the reproduction of free content in digital or any other formats contributing the development of international Wikimedia's projects;
collect, publish and distribute information, and do PR regarding free content;
participate in resolving scientific, social, cultural and legal problems related to free content at the national and international level;
collect and research scientific and expert literature about information technologies, information society, free content, lexicography, encyclopedism, journalism and other fields included in international Wikimedia's projects;
organize and co-organize professional gatherings, advisory meetings, seminars and other forms of professional education in the area of free knowledge;
publish pro bono publications on free knowledge issues;
co-operate with universities, professional associations and other national and international organizations focusing on free knowledge issues.

Name and Headquarters

Article 4

The name of the Association in Serbian shall be: Викимедија Србије.

The name of the Association in English shall be: Wikimedia Serbia.

The Association shall be headquartered in Belgrade.

The Association shall carry out its activities within the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

Membership

Article 5

An individual who accepts the goals and these Bylaws may become a member of the Association.

Membership is acquired by a written approval pursuant to Article 6, para. 2 or by signing the membership application form pursuant to Article 6, para. 3 which shall be ratified pursuant to Article 10, para. 1 of these Bylaws.

The membership application by a minor who is 14 years of age or above shall be accompanied with a written consent of his/her legal representative ratified pursuant to the law.

The membership application for a minor under 14 shall be undertaken by his/her legal representative.

Article 6

The Association shall recognize regular members, associate members and honored members.

A decision on a regular membership is taken by the Assembly upon a justified proposal of three regular members who evaluated any individual activities, capacities or results and without delay informed the candidate whose prior approval shall be in writing.

A decision on an associate membership is taken by the Assembly and declared without delay.

A decision on a honored membership is taken by the Assembly.

Every member may surrender his/her membership by a written consent on the surrender, but a regular member may surrender his/her regular membership and become an associate member. A minor may surrender his/her membership without a written consent of his/her legal representative.

Membership may be terminated in the event on the member's prolonged inactivity, breach of these Bylaws and violation of the reputation of the Association.

The decision on termination of membership is taken by the Assembly upon a justified proposal of three regular members.

A member shall have an opportunity to be heard about any reasons of such a proposal.

Rights and Obligations of the Members

Article 7

A regular member is entitled to:

participate in the achievement of the goals of the Association on an equal footing with other members;
directly take part in the Assembly decision making and take part in the decision making via the Association bodies;
vote on the appointment of members in the Association bodies and be appointed to the Association bodies;
be timely and fully informed on the work and activities of the Association.

An associate member is entitled to:

participate in the achievement of the goals of the Association on an equal footing with other members;
be timely and fully informed on the work and activities of the Association.

A member is duty-bound to:

actively contribute to the achievement of the goals of the Association;
participate in the activities of the Association according his/her interests;
perform other duties entrusted to him/her by the Board;
pay the membership fees.

Bodies

Article 8

Bodies of the Association shall be:

Assembly
President and Vice Presidents
Board
Secretary General
Regional Sections
Expert Sections
Council

The Association shall be represented by an authorized representative appointed by the Board who shall sign all financial and pecuniary documents on behalf of the Association, and in the event of his/her absence, the Secretary General or other authorized representative appointed by the Board.

Assembly

Article 9

The Assembly comprises all regular members of the Association.

The Assembly shall meet regularly once a year. An extraordinary Assembly session may be scheduled at the justified proposal of the Board and at the request of at least seven regular members. The request with the draft agenda shall be in writing, justified and addressed to the Board.

A session shall be called by the President or any members of the Board in a written form with the place, date and the draft agenda designated. A session shall be moderated by the President or any member of the Board.

Assembly shall:

adopt the work plans and programs;
adopt Bylaws and any amendments to these Bylaws;
adopt other general enactments;
appoint and dismiss the President, Vice Presidents and the Board members;
establish and abolish the Expert Sections and Regional Sections;
review and adopt at least once a year the report of the Board, Expert Sections and Regional Sections;
review and adopt the financial plans and reports;
take decisions on statutory changes and the dissolution of the Association;
take decisions on giving acknowledgements and gratitudes to the members;
take decisions on association in national and foreign federations and other associations.

An Assembly decision shall be valid if the session at which it is taken is attended by at least seven regular members.

The Assembly shall take a decision by a majority of votes of the present members.

An Assembly decision on statutory changes and the dissolution of the Association shall be valid if it is taken by two-thirds of votes of the present regular members.

A session may be held via the website of the Association or over the phone. The electronic voting shall be valid if it is ratified by full names at a time or web place designated, or by e-mail if it is undertaken over the phone.

President and Vice Presidents

Article 10

The President shall represent the Association, moderate Assembly sessions and ratify the membership application form, and in the event of his/her absence, these functions shall be undertaken by the Vice President.

The President and Vice President may be a member and the Chairperson of the Board.

The President and Vice President shall be appointed to two-year terms in office and he/she may be reappointed.

Board

Article 11

The Board shall be the executive body of the Association and shall be charged with the implementation of the statutory goals of the Association.

The Board shall comprise from four to eleven members. A representative of any Regional Section shall be a member of the Board. The Board shall appoint the Chairperson from among its members.

The members of the Board shall be appointed to two-year terms in office and may be reappointed.

Article 12

The Board shall:

co-ordinate the work of the Association between Assembly sessions and adopt decisions for implementing the goals of the Association;
organize the daily activities of the Association;
appoint the members of the Council and appoint and dismiss the Secretary General, and entrust special duties to individual members;
adopt financial decisions;
initiate the proceeding of statutory changes by itself or at the justified proposal of at least five regular members of the Association, and prepare the draft of statutory amendments;
co-ordinate the work of the Regional Sections;
adopt decisions of the membership fees including the exceptions based on any individual voluntary contribution or any individual economic status and other decisions with the exception of those in the remit of other bodies.

A decision of the Board shall be valid if at least half of its members are present at the session and being taken by a majority of votes of the present members.

A session may be held over the phone and the voting shall be valid if it is ratified by e-mail.

Secretary General

Article 13

The Secretary General shall:

represent the Association and sign pecuniary documents;
prepare the work plan, financial plans and final financial reports;
manage the work of administration.

Regional Sections

Article 14

A Regional Section may be established ad hoc at the national level to achieve the statutory goals of the Association and shall be obliged at least once a year to prepare the written work report and address it to the Board and the Assembly.

The Regional Section shall not be a legal person and shall be presented as the regional section of the Association.

The Regional Section shall appoint the Chairperson of the Regional Section as well as a representative who shall be a member of the Board, from among its members.

The members of the Regional Section shall be appointed to two-year terms in office and may be reappointed.

Expert Sections

Article 15

An Expert Section may be established following the special encyclopedia fields or a rank of expertise.

The Expert Section shall provide recommendations, explanations and interpretations regarding some expert fields to the Board and the Assembly, upon request.

The Expert Section shall appoint the Chairperson of the Expert Section from among its members.

The members of the Expert Section shall be appointed to two-year terms in office and may be reappointed.

Council

Article 16

The Council shall be an advisory body and the members shall be appointed from among scientists, artists, experts and other persons in order to improve achieving the goals of the Association.

The members of the Council shall be appointed to two-year terms in office and may be reappointed.

Transparency

Article 17

The work of the Association shall be transparent.

The Board shall be charged with regularity notifying the membership and public about the work and activities of the Association, directly or via e-mail, web database on the website of the Association http://rs.wikimedia.org, public statements or any other adequate manner.

The financial reports and other reports of the activity of the Association shall be addressed to the Assembly.

Article 18

With the aim of fulfilling its statutory goals, the Association shall establish contacts and cooperation with other national and international associations and organizations.

The Association may become a member of other national and international free content associations.

Funding

Article 19

The Association shall obtain funds from membership fees, grants, donations and by applying for financial supporting its projects implementation.

The Association may transfer its financial resources to other non-profit associations.

All the financial resources of the Association shall be used to achieve and promote its statutory goals including coverage of the costs of the everyday work in accordance with the normative acts of the Association.

Dissolution of the Association

Article 20

The Association shall be dissolute by the Assembly decision and in other instances provided by the law.

Assets in the Event of Dissolution

Article 21

In the event of dissolution, the assets of the Association shall be transfered to the domestic non-profit legal person directed on the same or similar goals which shall be identified by the Assembly in the decision on dissolution.

Seal

Article 22

The Association shall have a round seal with the following words inscribed: „Викимедија Србије Београд“ along with the stylized human figure centered as well as another one with the following words inscribed: „Wikimedia Serbia Belgrade“ along with the stylized human figure centered.

Final Provisions

Article 23

These Bylaws shall replace the prior Bylaws of the Association adopted on 13 March 2011.

Article 24

The Law on Associations shall directly apply to all issues not regulated by these Bylaws.

Article 25

These Bylaws shall take effect on the day they are adopted by the Assembly.

President of the Assembly,

Goran Obradović